4 Suspects Arrested After Raid on Video Piracy Lab

GLENDALE — Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies and investigators of the Motion Picture Assn. of America raided a video piracy lab and distribution center Tuesday morning, netting thousands of copied videotapes and more than 60 videocassette recorders, authorities said.

Dozens of videocassette recorders--in the process of duplicating the movies “Hercules,” Wild America” and “Casper: A Spiritual Beginning”--were found stacked atop one another in the living room of a Glendale apartment in the 600 block of W. Lexington Drive, said MPAA spokeswoman Marisa Pickar. Other titles on hand included “Liar Liar,” “Jingle All the Way,” “Men in Black,” “Volcano” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Authorities said they arrested Cristobal L. Cordova, 47, Henry Celi, 23, and Daniel Sanchez, 33, all of whom lived in the apartment.

More pirate videos, blank videocassettes and empty cassette casings were found in a Norwalk house. After serving a search warrant at a house in the 12000 block of Sycamore Street, authorities arrested Roberto Sandoval, who lived in the house.

All four men face charges under California’s True Name and Address statute, which prohibits the rental or sale of videocassettes that do not bear the true name and address of the manufacturer, Pickar said.

Bail was set at $25,000 each, said Deputy Bob Killeen.

If convicted, the men face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, Pickar said.

Authorities believe the videos were duplicated at the Glendale address, then taken to Norwalk where they were labeled, put in casings and shipped to swap meets, flea markets and video stores, Pickar said.

Smaller video stores trying to compete with the larger video rental chains can purchase pirate tapes for about $20, whereas legitimate tapes cost $60 to $80, Pickar said.

MPAA investigators were tipped off to the piracy through vendors they had arrested for possessing the pirate tapes. In other cases, local law enforcement agencies provided tips after consumers complained about poor-quality videos whose pictures were fuzzy or sounded out of sync, Pickar said.

The MPAA has anti-piracy operations in 71 countries and employs more than 100 investigators, Pickar said, estimating the unit conducts about 2,500 investigations each year.

Movie studios lose $250 million annually in potential revenue, money that could have been earned from video sales and rentals, Pickar said.